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Old Testament Overview - I KINGS – II KINGS

I Kings: The path to division—from a divided king to a divided nation.

Key Events: The divided king (1-11) (1) David's great age created a need for a new king. (11:1-4) (2) Adonijah, David's spoiled and undisciplined son (see 1:6) says, "I will be king." (1:5-10) (3) Nathan warns Bathsheba and she tells David. (1:11-27) (4) David names Solomon as king. (1:28-40) (5) Solomon kills Adonijah after he makes another attempt at the throne. (2:13-25) (6) Joab is killed. (2:28-35) (7) Shimei is killed. (2:36-46) (8) Solomon asks God for wisdom to rule wisely rather than asking for riches. (3:1-15) (Solomon's gratitude and humility, 3:5-9) (God gives him his request for wisdom plus He gives him riches. 3:10-15) (9) Solomon's wisdom in action (3:16-28) (10) Solomon builds the temple and the palace. (6-7) (11) The Ark is brought to the temple. (8:1-9) (12) The glory of the Lord fills the temple. (8:10-11) (13) Solomon's praise to God and prayer to God (8:12-61) (14) The temple dedication (8:62-66) (15) God appears to Solomon. (9:1-9) (16) The Queen of Sheba visits Solomon. (10:1-13) (17) Solomon's wealth is described. (10:14-29) (18) Solomon's wives divide his heart. (11:1-13) (19) Jeroboam rises up against Solomon. (11:26-40) (A prophet predicts the dividing of Solomon's kingdom after his death. 11:29-39) (20) Solomon' death (11:41-43)

The divided kingdom (12-16) (1) Israel is divided (12:1-24) (Rehoboam is unwilling to listen to wise counsel from his elders but listens to the unwise counsel of his young friends, which leads to the division of the country of Israel.) (Jeroboam is made king over the ten northern tribes and Rehoboam is left being king only over Judah and Benjamin. 12:20-21) (2) In the northern kingdom, Jeroboam replaces God's worship system with one of his own making: he changed the religious symbols—from the Ark to golden calves; he changed the place of worship—from Jerusalem to Dan and Bethel; he changed the priesthood—from the Levites to anyone he chose; and he changed the religious calendar. This establishment of a false religion is referred to as the "sins of Jeroboam." (12:25-33) See 13;34, 14:16, 16:2; II Kings 3:3 See also 11:37-38(3) God's judgment on Jeroboam (13-14) (4) Asa was a good king over Judah. (15:9-24) (5) Ahab became king and married Jezebel. (16:29-33)

Elijah, a prophet of judgment on the northern kingdom (17-22) (1) Elijah proclaims that rain will stop in Israel as a judgment from God. (17:1) (Baal was a fertility god—no rain would be seen as the failure of this god to produce good crops. See Deut. 11:13-17, 28;24; II Chron. 7:12-16; James 5:17-18) (Elijah was from Gilead—on the other side of the Jordan River. He was a humble and ordinary man who was confronting a king. He loved God and hated to see Israel invaded by false gods from Jezebel's land to the north of Israel.) (2) Elijah goes into hiding. (17:2-24) (He was fed by ravens and resurrected a widow's son from the dead.) (3) Elijah meets Obadiah. (18:1-15) (Obadiah protected God's prophets from being killed by Jezebel. 18:3-4) (Elijah tells Obadiah that he is going to meet with Ahab. 18:15) (4) Elijah meets with king Ahab. (18:16-19) (Elijah tells Ahab that he will meet the people of Israel and the prophets of Baal and Asherah at Mt. Carmel.) (5) Elijah meets them all on Mt. Carmel. (18:20-45) (Mt. Carmel was the rain forest of Israel—it was the most likely place for it to rain. Certainly, Baal was worshiped there in hopes that it would rain.) (God and Elijah versus Baal and Asherah and their 850 prophets. See 18:19) (Elijah begins by challenging Israel to choose between God and Baal. 18:20-21) (Then, God reveals Himself as God and Baal is revealed as a fake god—fire from God powerfully burned up a sacrifice, Baal was able to do nothing. 18:22-38) (The prophets of Baal and Asherah are killed, and it begins to rain. 18:40-45) (6) Elijah runs to Jezreel—16 miles. (18:46) (7) Elijah is terrified when Jezebel threatens to kill him, and runs to Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai). (19:1-8) (Notice the "I"s in 19:4, 10, 14. I call this narrowItis, a very human malady.) (8) God appears to Elijah. (19:9-18) (God spoke to Elijah in a "gentle whisper." He also speaks to us in a "gentle whisper." (9) The call of Elisha (19:19-21) (Elisha burns his bridges behind him—he burns his farming equipment and kills the animals.) (10) Ahab selfishly wants Naboth's vineyard, but Naboth wants to keep it because it is a family inheritance. (21:1-4) (11) Jezebel kills Naboth so Ahab can have his vineyard. (21:15-16) (12) Elijah predicts Ahab's and Jezebel's deaths. (21:19-28) (Ahab humbles himself and God delays the judgment. (21:27-29) (13) Ahab wants to join with Jehosophat the king of Judah and attack the king of Aram, so he seeks out false prophets to tell him it is God's will; but Micaiah tells him God's message that it is not God's will. (22:1-28) (Micaiah reveals what was happening in the invisible world—a lying spirit was speaking through the false prophets. 22:19-23). (14) Ahab is killed in the battle. (22:29-40)

Key Teachings: Parents need to correct their children. (1:6) Seek wisdom over wealth. (3:1-28) Solomon's divided heart—compare 8:12-9:9 to 11:1-13. (See also Deut. 17:16-17, 7:1-6) Rehoboam's foolish rejection of wise advice. (12:1-20) (See Proverbs 1:10-19, 2:12-15, 12:15, 13:10, 13, 20, 18:2, 19:20—this was his father Solomon's wisdom that he rejected.) Jeroboam replaces God system of worship with his own system. (This has happened many times—Salt Lake, Rome, Mecca, etc.) There were both good and evil kings over Judah, but only evil kings over Israel. Ahab brought false religion into Israel when he married Jezebel and brought her into Israel as their queen. (16:29-33) (False teaching still comes into the church when false teachers come into the church.) Elijah, an ordinary man who was zealous for God, was used by God to confront the false religion brought into Israel through Jezebel. (17-18) Even Elijah's focus could be drawn away from his trust in God when he focused on Jezebel's hatred toward him rather than on God's love for him. (19:1-8) (See 19:4-5, 10, 14) God's solution to narrowIis is given in 19:18. Avoid selfishness and pity parties. (21:1-6) (Ahab had a pity party when he could not have Naboth's vineyard.)

II Kings: Israel's and Judah's last days—the last days of the divided kingdom (1-17) and the last days of the surviving kingdom (18-25)

Key Events: The last days of the divided kingdom (1-17) Elijah's last days (1:1-2:12) (1) Elijah predicts king Ahaziah's death as a result of Ahaziah consulting Baal-Zebub about whether or not he was going to die. (1) (Elijah dressed in the same way as John the Baptist would dress. 1:7-8) (Fire from heaven consumed the soldiers of the king as fire consumed the sacrifice on Mt. Carmel. See 18:36-38 See also Luke 9:54-55 where James and John wanted fire to come down from heaven and consume a Samaritan village that rejected Jesus.) (Ahaziah died as Elijah predicted. 1:16-17) (2) Elijah is taken up to heaven. (2:1-12) (Elisha refuses to leave Elijah. 2:1-6) (Elijah divides the waters of the Jordan River. 2:7-8) (Elisha asks for a "double portion" of Elijah's "spirit." 2:9) (a "chariot of fire" takes Elijah to heaven. 2:11-12)

The ministry of Elisha (2:13-8:15) (1) Elisha divides the waters of the Jordan River (2:13-14) (2) Elisha purifies the water in Jericho (2:19-22) (3) Bears maul youth who jeer Elisha. (2:23-25) (4) Elisha helps a widow by providing oil to pay her debts. (4:1-7) (5) Elisha resurrects a Shunammite woman's son from the dead. (4:8-37) See I Kings 17:21-22 (6) Elisha purifies a pot of food from the poison that was accidently put in it. (4:38-41) (7) Elisha multiplies twenty loaves of bread. (4:42-44) (8) Elisha heals Naaman of leprosy (5:1-27) (Naaman found it insulting to wash himself in the Jordan River, but he humbled himself and did it and was healed. We find it hard to admit our sin and humbly come to God for the forgiveness that is available because of the cross of Christ, but when we do it we are healed.) (Gehazai, Elisha's servant, takes the reward that Elisha refused and receives Naaman's leprosy.) (9) Elisha makes an axe head float. (6:1-7) (10) Elisha' servant's eyes were opened to see that God's armies were more numerous than the army of Aram that surrounded them. (6:8-23) (Elisha is able to defeat this army after God blinded them. 6:18) (11) Elisha predicts the end of a siege by Ben-Hadad and the end of the famine caused by that siege. (6:24-7:20) (12) The Shunammite's house and land are miraculously restored to her. (8:1-6)

The last kings of the divided kingdom (8:16-17:40) (1) Jehu fulfills Elijah's prophesy and kills Ahab's family (9:1-10:30) (Jehu kills Jezebel. 9:30-37 See I Kings 21:23) (Seventy sons of Ahab are killed by their guardians, as well as all of the relatives of Ahab are killed. 10:1-17 See I Kings 21:21-24) (Jehu kills the prophets of Baal. 10:18-30) (Jehu's murders accomplished God's purposes—see 10:30—but were not condoned by Him. See Hos. 1:4) (2) Athaliah tried to kill all of David's seed, but Joash, a seed of David, is hidden away so she cannot kill him. 11:1-3—This was another of Satan's attempts to prevent the seed promised to David from fulfilling His purpose for mankind. See Gen. 3:15; II Sam. 7:16) (3) Joash reigns forty years and was a good king—he repaired the temple. (12) (4) Elisha dies—he predicts victory over Aram before he dies. (13:14-20) (Compare II Kings 13:14 to II Kings 2:12.) (5) Elisha's dead body resurrects a man from the dead. (13:21) (6) Amaziah was a good king of Judah. (14:1-22) (But his arrogance after defeating Edom led to his downfall. 14:7-14) (7) Jeroboam II was evil, but very successful king militarily—the country was wealthy during his reign. (14:23-29) (He may have benefitted from Jonah' preaching and the repentance of the Assyrians in Ninevah. See 14:25, Hos. 12:8, 13:6; Amos 6:4; Isa. 28:1) (8) Azariah was a good king of Judah, but he tried to act as if he were both king and a priest and became leprous. (15:1-7) (He is also called king Uzziah. See II Chron. 26:16-21) (9) Shallum assassinated Zechariah king of Israel, but was assassinated himself (15:8-16) (See also 15:14, 25, 30) (10) King Ahaz of Judah was an evil king who even sacrificed his son. (16:1-20) (He sought help from the king of Assyria and built an Assyrian altar to offer sacrifices on. 16:10-16) (11) Assyria conquers Israel. (17:1-6) (King Hoshea, the last king of Israel, is conquered by Assyria.) (12) The reason for Israel's judgment by God is described. (17:7-23) (13) Assyria brings foreign people from other conquered lands into Samaria; and people from Samaria are deported to other countries. (17:24-41) (These foreigners worshiped many gods. 17:29-41) (These foreigners, the many gods, and future intermarriage between these people and the people of Israel is the reason Samaritans were despised by the Jews.)

The last days of the surviving kingdom (18-24) Hezekiah king of Judah (18:1-20:21) (1) He abolished false worship in Israel. (18:1-14) (He even removed the high places.) (Notice that Moses' bronze snake was being worshiped. 18:4 See Numb. 21:8-9 and Jn. 3:14-15) (2) There was no king like him. (18:5-8) (3) Assyria attacks Judah. (18:9-19:37) (the Assyrian military commander taunts Israel. 18:17-37) (Hezekiah seeks Isaiah's guidance. 19:1-13) (Hezekiah's prayer 19:14-19) (Isaiah prophesies Assyria's defeat. 19:20-34) (Assyria is defeated. 19:35-37) (185,000 Assyrians are killed by one angel. 19:35-36) (3) Hezekiah becomes ill and Isaiah predicts that he will die. 20:1-11) (Hezekiah pleads with God that he will not die and God allows him to live 15 more years. 20:2-6 The sign that he will not die is a shadow moving back ten steps. 20:10-11) (4) Hezekiah proudly displays Israel's riches to an envoy from Babylon (20:12-19) (Isaiah predicts Babylon's conquest of Israel—all the treasures Hezekiah showed off to these Babylonians will become theirs!)

Manasseh, king of Judah (21:1-18) (1) He was the opposite of Hezekiah—he brought idolatry back to Israel and even sacrificed his own son. (21:1-9) (2) God promises that Israel will be punished because of Manasseh's sin. (21:10-18) See II Chron. 33:10-17 for Manasseh's repentance and God's forgiveness of him.

Josiah, King of Judah (22:1-23:30) (1) Josiah found the book of the Law—he mourns for Israel because of Israel's sin and God's promised punishment for it. (21:1-13) (2) Because Josiah humbled himself, he would live in peace. (22:18-20) (3) Josiah reads God's Covenant to the people of Israel and renews the Covenant with them, cleanses the temple and removes idolatry from Israel. (23:1-20) (Josiah fulfills the prediction of the man of God. 23:15-20 See I Kings 13:1-3) (4) Josiah removes occultist practices from Israel. (23:24-25) (5) But God's judgment was not removed from Israel—Manasseh's sins had too greatly affected Israel so that even Josiah's godly efforts were not sufficient to change it. (23:26-27) (6) Josiah is killed by Pharaoh Neco. (23:29-30) (See II Chron. 35:20-24; Zech. 12:11)

The final kings of Judah (23:31-24:20) (1) Jehoahaz taken in chains by Pharaoh Neco. (23:31-35) (2) Babylon invades Israel during the reign of Jehoiakim. (23:36-24:7) (3) Jehoiachin taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. (24:8-17) (4) Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. (24:18-20)

The fall of Jerusalem (25) (1) The siege of Jerusalem by Babylon (25:1-21) (Zedekiah is taken captive and is blinded. 25:5-7) (The temple is burned. 25:9) (2) Gedaliah is appointed by Nebuchadnezzar as governor of Israel. (25:22-24) (3) Gedaliah is assassinated. (25:25-26) (4) Jehoiachin is released. (25:27-30)

Key Teachings: Naaman humbled himself and obeyed Elisha the prophet and was healed. (5:1-15) (We need to humbly obey God even when it does not make sense to us.) Gehazai's greed led to severe consequences for him. (5:15-27) God and his armies are greater than any foes we face—we see this when our own spiritual eyes are opened. (6:8-23) God sometimes uses providential coincidences to accomplish His purposes in our lives and to bless us. (8:1-6) Vengeance is God's (9:1-10:30) (God uses Jehu to right the wrongs of Ahab. See I Kings 21:21-24) Jehoash king of Israel's lack of faith limited his victory. (13:14-20) (So, our lack of faith can limit our victory.) Arrogance led to king Azariah (Uzziah)becoming leprous (II Chron. 21:16-21) Those who live by the sword die by the sword. (15:8-12) (This was a regular pattern among the kings of Israel—they became king by assassinating the previous king. See also 15:14, 25, 30) Israel's sins led to their being conquered by Assyria. (17:6-23) One angel killed 185,000 Assyrians who were going to attack Jerusalem. (19:35-36) (He who is for us is far greater than he who is against us.) Hezekiah bragged about Israel's riches rather than telling them about God. (20:12-19) Manasseh repented and God forgave him. (II Chron. 33:1-17) (If God was willing to forgive Manasseh, He is willing to forgive us.) Josiah's revival did not prevent God's judgment on Israel for the sins of Manasseh. (23:1-27) (Josiah's revival took place in his heart, but not in the hearts of the people of Israel.)